sounds and felt the breathing of the forest. For some reason my grandmother's stories came back to me stronger than before. I could understand the mythical Finnish hero, Vainamoinen, the singer and knower eternal, the man of quiet waters. The woods, air, water, animals all seemed to form a music of sound. It was as if you could just copy the notes you could become what you heard. I found myself at those times playing with the puukko in my hands, my Great Grandfather Ilmari's steel puukko. Great grandfather was named after the smith Ilmarinen who hammered out the lid of the heavens and the great Sampo. Ilmarinen and Vainamoinen were the best of friends, a poet and an engineer...
“There you are. It is getting dark. Aren't you hungry?'
“Tabby. Do you think it is strange that I am sitting in the woods?'
“No. If I didn't have to work on the spacecraft, I would be sitting here with you.'
“Did you ever hear about Vainamoinen and Ilmarinen?'
“No.'
“In Finnish mythology they were two friends and heroes. Vainamoinen was a poet who knew too much and Ilmarinen was a builder of the impossible. You know I named the gravity device after Vainamoinen's kantele. I sometimes feel like I know too much.'
She tickled me in the side. “You are not Vainamoinen. You are not smart enough.” We walked back to the cabin in the falling dusk. I knew there was something more that I had to learn. I seemed to understand science but I now needed to know about the life around me.
* * * *
Santa opened the meeting. “What have you found out about Karpinen?'
Snow White answered, “We have been following him as well as we can with his government guards all around him. We have found no pattern to his movements. We thought about blowing up the spaceship he is building but there is a danger of being discovered by the security measures and it might look like an accident, after all it is the first of its kind. The same seems to be true with all of his movements. He is too private of a man to be in public regularly.'
Hamlet interrupted, “Could we grab someone he loves and pull him away from his protection?'
“Other than his wife we have no idea who would work and she is as well protected as he is.'
Santa broke in, “There is always a way. We just have to look harder.'
Romeo coughed and everyone turned to look. “I've got an idea...'
* * * *
Tabby needed to talk with Ole face to face and go over plans. We decided to go to LA and the Skunk Works. After telling Felix about the plans, I got invitations for Edwards Air Force Base, JPL, and Dryden Flight Center.
Move-over was shoulder dropping my feet when Felix came back with the list of places that I was supposed to visit. During the day, Move-over usually doesn't like to be held but today he molded into my arms when I picked him up. I was upset with the government trying to organize my time so I was a little sharp with Felix.
“We are going to have to have someone feed and water Move-over while we are gone, a bowl of water and scoop of food here and the same at the cabin.” Move-over looked at Felix and growled.
“I will take care of it.'
“Are you coming or are you staying here.'
“Zimmerman has put me on permanent duty as your personal bodyguard.'
That was something I had not expected. “Do you want me to talk to him? Tabby's mother Martha was telling me that you were dating Erma's granddaughter Gail.'
“How did you know?'
“You're in a small town. Everyone knows everything about everyone.'
“Ya. Don't talk to Zimmerman. Ya. He's not the best when it comes to anyone questioning his authority.'
“Well you do need a dose of LA to get rid of the Midwest rural slang you picked up.'
The trip was different. Manning at JPL had a number of Caltech students for a last minute seminar that I was suppose to speak at. Instead of talking, I brought them to a computer lab and we got to work playing around with equations. Holcum wanted to show off some of the new military equipment at Edwards and Scott and Dr. Jorge were at Dreyden. I wanted to be with Tabby and Ole going over the spaceship plans but I knew I had to put in my time with the others before I could break free.
To pass the time I tried to blend in with all of the people around me the same way I did in the forest. At first, they would try to get me involved with their conversations but my non-committal grunts and ah-ha's slowly stopped them and they soon got to arguing among themselves. It was much harder than understanding the flow in the forest but I eventually seemed to get the feel of the interactions between the people. I got a surprise at Dreyden with Dr. Jorge. He was sitting back and watching the interactions himself. Soon we were sitting together watching the others.
“Why are you watching?'
“What better way to learn about the people around you?'
“Okay, Daniel. Can you tell me the pecking order of the people here?'
“Since you are not participating, I would like to wait before placing you. But Scott is the top dog here. Although, Holcum has a good size following and that man over there has some as well.
“Scott is pretty much ignoring the action and leaving his followers to handle the discussion. Holcum is basically lost. Holcum's aids are trying to insulate him from direct conversation while still trying to affect the superior calm of the military.
“That other man is a different matter. He is challenging Scott for leadership and his people know it. They are trying hard to score points.
“There are about a dozen others who are here either because they need to be or were ordered to be here. They are trying so hard not to be involved that they stand out.'
“Interesting observations Daniel. Who is the strongest here?'
I looked him straight in the eye. “I am.” I held him with my eyes for a five count and turned back to watching the others.
“So you are Daniel.'
“Using my first name is not going to win you any points.'
“I know but it is a weakness. I have to try. We are after all people and every social group of animals has a hierarchy. If I can get you to accept my use of your first name, I will be higher on the hierarchy.'
“How would you place me?'
“You have natural control over situations but you don't want to be a leader. You are too strong to be a follower. You are a long wolf, an El Lobo. Others can follow where you lead but you are not really a member of the pack. You belong with the pack but are not part of it.
“I've done some reading up on your ethnic heritage and I read a report about your visit to the spaceship. Do you really think that a modern crew can be controlled by a shaman using a simple charm? In the Baltic the Finns are still known as wind wizards but here there is no ethnic history to support using superstition to control people who are not under your immediate command.'
Jorge left it there waiting for me to respond. I wasn't going to tell him I did the charm in memory of my grandmother so I just looked at him. After a bit he swallowed hard and turned back to the gathering. I got up.
“Interesting. Good bye Dr. Jorge. I will be leaving now.'
Oggie gave us a kitten before we left for our spaceship. Move-over couldn't decide if he liked the little thing. And he definitely put the kitten in its place when it tried to nurse on him. We had trouble finding a name for the kitten until he fell down the stairs. Tumble and Move-over were going to be the first animals to travel to the outer planets.
Chapter 21
Test Flight
Romeo's plan would take time but Santa thought it was brilliant. It would give the Cell the exact event that
